The collaboration between NABA and AMSA, part of Gruppo A2A, on the occasion of the foremost international event dedicated to the world of design, the Milan Design Week, brought the installation “I am what I throw away” to life as part of the exhibition-event INTERNI Cross Vision for FuoriSalone 2024.
The project “I am what I throw away,” conceived by Italo Rota, the late NABA Scientific Advisor, and Claudio Larcher, NABA Design Area Leader, and realised with the involvement of NABA Design Area students, under the coordination of lecturers Manal Abu Monassar and Ernesto Iadevaia, made its debut in the Cortile d'Onore at the Università degli Studi di Milano from April 15 to 28, 2024 (LINK https://www.internimagazine.com/cross-vision-en/naba-con-italo-rota-claudio-larcher-e-amsa-gruppo-a2a-i-am-what-i-throw-away/).
The project by NABA and AMSA – Gruppo A2A on exhibition at FuoriSalone 2024
The installation incorporates the use of both recycled and innovative materials to offer an immersive design experience that, in its structural simplicity, conveys a narrative on universal sustainability principles and the importance of sharing and merging different types of knowledge.
Inspired by the Living Structures of the American designer Ken Isaacs – a modular system on its 50th anniversary in 2024 and based on matrices that allow for the construction of living structures at a low cost and with minimal environmental impact – the installation “I am what I throw away” embodies the concept of matrix in architecture through the use of recycled materials, and, combining craftsmanship with industrial experimentation, makes the ethics of circularity in processes and the virtuous results of recycling clear and understandable.
Building upon and updating the approach and path outlined by the historical Living Structures for modern times, “I am what I throw away” encourages creative reuse and sustainable design of gentle architecture.
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From the ordinary to the extraordinary: creativity turns waste into artworks
Common and spread crosswise elements, such as a table and a chair, become example projects of the consequences of consumption, while in the 3D printing from recycled wire portraits the silent workers populating our metropolises become protagonist.
The project “I am what I throw away” presents an architecture composed of various elements that represent the annual consumption of products by an average household. Inside the installation, built using recomposed wood panels, a double-throne seat, stretching upwards through this essential architecture, clearly and instantly conveys the amount of plastic consumed, while a recycled aluminum table reflects the number of cans used. A PVC banner, made from the reuse of banners created for the graduation ceremony of NABA students, serves as both a cover and a hinge between the interior and exterior.
The creations by NABA and AMSA – Gruppo A2A for environmental sustainability
A series of posters, specifically designed for the exhibition and available to the public and visitors, provides a visual map to aesthetically communicate the message of the importance of the circular economy and sustainability, concepts and practices that are essential in contemporary society.
The project is completed by sculptures designed by NABA Design Area students and created in the Academy’s Design Lab under the supervision of lecturers Ernesto Iadevaia, Carmelo Zocco, and Silvia Fiorini. The filaments used for 3D printing come from recycled materials, including aluminum, plastic, and production waste from the 3D printing process itself.
The virtuous collaboration between NABA and AMSA - Gruppo A2A, on the occasion of Milan Design Week and Fuorisalone 2024, marks an encounter between the world of education and a leading company in the sector to open a dialogue with citizens and raise public awareness. Through a design project offering an immersive experience in a structural and architectural simplicity, it highlights crucial issues for sustainable development: process circularity, resource recovery, and the importance of proper recycling.
NABA and AMSA - Gruppo A2A extend their gratitude to: Architects Alessandro Pedretti and Giacomo Guarneri of Studio Italo Rota for their support in bringing the project to fruition, as well as to the technical partners Bencore® and Gruppo Saviola thanks to the Ecological Panel®.
